Balbirnie faces new drug charge; conviction could mean life in prison

Feb. 1, 2013

Anthony Balbirnie

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A Dallas County prosecutor has charged a Springfield man, already being investigated in connection with the death of a Willard-area teen, as a persistent drug offender. It could carry a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Anthony Balbirnie, 48, faces a single charge of possession of a controlled substance in Dallas County, the county where the teen is believed to have died. That crime usually carries a prison sentence of up to seven years.

But Barbara Viets, the prosecuting attorney for Dallas County, charged Balbirnie as a persistent drug offender. A conviction would mean he would face 10 to 30 years in prison, or life. He has previous drug convictions in Greene County and Christian County.

Viets could not be reached for comment.

No charges have been filed against Balbirnie in Dallas County in connection with the death of Khighla Parks, 15. Investigators have said they believe she died in Dallas County.

Sgt. Dan Nash of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, which is coordinating the investigation of Balbirnie, would not say whether police are seeking other charges against Balbirnie in Dallas County.

“We are still investigating him for several crimes in several counties,” Nash said.

Balbirnie’s attorney, Jill Porter, could not be reached for comment.

Police allegedly found meth on Balbirnie on Oct. 8 when they arrested him in Dallas County after a chase that began on northbound U.S. 65. A black backpack in the red Ford Mustang that Balbirnie was driving had hundreds of small plastic baggies, several syringes and numerous small vials, according to the probable cause statement.

One of the plastic baggies had a white powdery substance that tests identified as meth.

Balbirnie has been charged in Benton County with abandonment of a corpse, a felony, in connection with allegedly dumping Khighla’s body in Truman Lake. An autopsy failed to determine how the teen died, but officials have called Khighla’s death a homicide.

A woman told investigators she saw Balbirnie with Khighla at a Buffalo home on Sept. 21, the day after she walked away from her Willard-area home. Her body was found by boaters in Truman Lake on Sept. 30.